If you’ve managed to wander over to the Career Dragon blog I’m going to bet you’re in the middle of looking for a job.  You may already have a job but want to advance your career or you might just be looking to find a job at all.  Either way, you’ve probably realized that finding a job, regardless of your motivation, has gotten a lot harder.

Things have changed over the last few years.  Not only are we in the middle of the most competitive, tough job markets in decades but the game has changed, too.  You can’t just send out your resume or post to job boards like you could even 5 years ago.  You certainly can’t just show up in person to drop off a resume, although that used to be how it was done.  Now if you show up in person the only likely interview you’ll get is with security.  

It used to be your resume was everything.  You posted it to job boards and were found by recruiters and hiring managers.  You could mail it (with a stamp and everything!) to companies you were interested in working for along with a brilliantly crafted cover letter and could actually expect some sort of response.  Unfortunately, that’s just not the case anymore.  Your resume isn’t how you make your first impression.  In fact, at best it’s your second impression.  But really it’s probably further down on that list.  Somewhere around a 4th impression, or so.

What’s important now, and the best way to get noticed, is your online presence.  If your only presence online is your Facebook account, you have some work to do.  The first place hiring managers and recruiters look for potential job candidates is on LinkedIn.  If they find you and like what they see the next thing they’re going to do is google you.  Only after that will they actually want to see a resume and talk to you.  The point here is, it used to be they looked at your resume first, then decided if they wanted to meet you.  Now they decide whether or not they want to meet you and then look at your resume.

Finding a job isn’t as simple as it used to be.  It involves a lot more networking, creativity and persistence than it used to.  If you craft an engaging personal brand along with an outstanding professional presence you’ll be way ahead of your competition. Just like with any change you’ll have to learn some new skills.  If you haven’t started getting friendly with LinkedIn, now’s the time.  

As this blog series continues I’ll talk about how to go about building your online presence.  I’ll include advice and tips on which social media platforms you should use and how best to use them.  I’ll also go into how to identify and promote your personal brand.  It’s not that hard.  Really.  You’re just going to have to trust on me on this and come back to see.

You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter that contains links to resources to help you out and where you’ll hear about our specials and events.  To sign up for the newsletter go to our website at Career Dragon.  It’s easy to sign up and if you don’t like it, it’s easy to unsubscribe.  But you won’t want to.  You’re going to like it.  We’re kind of hard to resist.  So come on back.  New articles are posted every Monday and Thursday morning.  Come on.  You know you want to.